REDDING, Calif. – One couple's escape from the flames in Northern California became a "happy band of vagrants" as their motor home became a rescue vehicle for several people caught up in the chaos as hundreds of residents fled the town of Paradise.

Jane Latham and Ed Van Der Linden found themselves rescuing people off the road Thursday morning as they tried to get away from the blaze.

Van Der Linden said he was getting ready to make a plate of eggs for breakfast when they got the call to evacuate from their home at an RV park in Paradise.

They grabbed their cat, Babou, and a few supplies and Van Der Linden got behind the wheel of their motor home. Jane Latham followed him in her car.

The Camp Fire initially started out as a report of a 15-acre fire, but quickly grew to several thousand acres as it churned through dry brush and trees, pushed by high winds. By Thursday night, the wildfire had grown to 20,000 acres and was still spreading.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the fire had likely destroyed up to a thousand homes or more and fatalities were likely.

'There was major gridlock'

Residents fleeing the fire described panic and chaos as the few roads out of Paradise were jammed with cars and trucks.

"There was major gridlock. What would normally take 25 minutes took 2½ hours," Latham said.

As they drove in bumper-to-bumper traffic, they saw a man walking along the road with his dog and carrying luggage.

A woman directing traffic ran up to the motor home and asked Van Der Linden if he could give the man and his dog a ride out of town.

"So everybody piled in and we headed on down the road," Van Der Linden said.

They stopped at the VFW hall in town thinking they were safe, but someone told them they needed to keep moving because the fire was still coming. As they were leaving, another man ran up to them and asked if they could take two more elderly residents, he said.

The two had recently been rescued from their home, which was surrounded by flames, Van Der Linden said.

"He actually had to walk through the flames to carry them out," Van Der Linden said.

The couple had trouble walking, so Van Der Linden and the other man carried them into the motor home, he said.

Latham said she only got their first names – Boris, who was 102 years old, and Jackie, who was 92, she said.

"Once I had the happy band of vagrants in the RV, the young man who was their savior stopped traffic so we could get back out," Van Der Linden said.

On their way down the hill out of Paradise to Chico, they saw destruction and fire all around them, Latham said. They had to drive around utility poles that had burned and fallen into the roadway.

"As we were coming down the hill I could not believe it. Everything on both sides of the road was on fire," Latham said.

Eventually the whole troupe made it to Chico and camped Thursday afternoon in the Chico Mall parking lot with numerous others who had fled.

View of the Camp Fire burning in Paradise from Thorntree Drive near Chico Airport(Photo: Courtesy of Elaine Byrd-Irwin, Chico)

The evacuees milled around their vehicles, which were filled with what they could grab before leaving their homes behind. Some said they felt sure their homes were lost in the flames. But they grabbed photos, clothes and a few other supplies before joining the rush of residents leaving town.

Latham and Van Der Linden said they had been through emergencies before, but nothing like the Camp Fire evacuation.

"If it wasn't so scary, it would have been beautiful," she Latham said.

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Well inside the evacuation zone surrounding the California town of Paradise, resident Chris Jones thanks a Butte County sheriff's deputy for the work she and other first responders are doing. Jones is one of the few still living inside the evacuation zone. Sam Gross, Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal

Tom Witherspoon, a nurse in Chico, California, chose to stay and protect his home in Butte Creek Canyon, about 6 miles southwest of Paradise, during the Nov. 8, 2018, Camp Fire. His house was well prepared to withstand the flames and survived, but many of his neighbors were not so lucky. Sam Gross, Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal

Rhys and Valerie Owen of Paradise, California, stand in the front yard of their home, which narrowly escaped the Camp Fire. Flames spared little on the property, but the home, barn and chicken coop are still standing. Sam Gross, Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal

Rhys Owen surveys the destruction at the edge of his property near Paradise, California. His house survived, but the flames consumed many of his neighbors’ homes. Sam Gross, Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal

Top officials from the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection embark on a tour of the Camp Fire's devastated areas on Tuesday morning. CHP Valley Division

Firefighter Clayton Mazzaglia looks into a control burn used to help fight the Camp Fire Near Bloomer Hill in Butte County in California on Nov. 14. 2018. Thomas Hawthorne, Thomas Hawthorne/USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighter Brandon Feller looks into a control burn used to help fight the Camp Fire Near Bloomer Hill in Butte County in California on Nov. 14. 2018. Feller was burned in a fire earlier in the year and after being cleared for medical leave returned to work at the Camp Fire. Thomas Hawthorne/USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighter Ross Miller fires an incendiary round into a fire line in the Camp Fire as part of a control burn Near Bloomer Hill in Butte County in California on Nov. 14, 2018. Thomas Hawthorne/USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighter Ross Miller fires an incendiary round into a fire line in the Camp Fire as part of a control burn Near Bloomer Hill in Butte County in California on Nov. 14, 2018. Thomas Hawthorne/USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighter Alanzo Smithn(right) sits in a truck waiting to get his next orders to help in fighting the Camp Fire on Nov. 12, in Butte Valley, Calif. Thomas Hawthorne, Thomas Hawthorne/USA TODAY NETWORK

Milynn Pirro, left, and her son, Chris Rathja, wait in the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Redding on Monday. The family was displaced by the Camp Fire in Butte County and had to come to Shasta County to find lodging. David Benda/Record Searchlight

The charred frames of chairs still sit in the rubble of the Rock House, Dining & Espresso restaurant on Highway 70 by Yankee Hill. The Camp Fire swept through the area Thursday and burned most of the restaurant to the ground. Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. This is the Skyway. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. This is Clark Road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. this was at a school. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. This was a school building. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

A building from Paradise Unified School was burned down in Paradise as seen from Pearson Rd.
The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. These are the ruins from a school building on Pearson Road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. This is a view of structures on Pearson Road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. These cars were at the Super Shopper Auto. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. This Jeep burned up in the Edward Jones parking lot. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was a burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on the road. Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars on roads. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

The Northern California town of Paradise was burned ghost town on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, a day after the Camp Fire swept through. Most of the businesses on the Skyway were destroyed. Some schools were burned out. People escaping the fire abandoned their cars. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

A service dog provides assistance Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, the day after the Camp Fire destroyed parts of Butte County, California. The fire flattened much of the town of Paradise on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. Trevor Hughes

John Simon , former battalion chief of Paradise Fire Department, worked Friday as a volunteer searching for pets displaced by the Camp Fire. The fire, which started in Butte County on Thursday Nov. 8, 2018, swiftly devastated Paradise, California. Benjamin Spillman

In this image provided by NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), smoke from the Camp Fire can seen spreading across northern California on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. Courtesy of NASA

A Cupertino firefighter puts out flames early Friday morning at a house along Oak Ridge Drive in the Skansen subdivision by the Skyway in Paradise. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

A Cupertino firefighter puts out flames early Friday morning at a house along Oak Ridge Drive in the Skansen subdivision by the Skyway in Paradise. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

A Cupertino firefighter puts out flames early Friday morning at a house along Oak Ridge Drive in the Skansen subdivision by the Skyway in Paradise. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

A Cupertino firefighter puts out flames early Friday morning, Nov. 9, 2018 at a home along Oak Ridge Drive in the Skansen subdivision by the Skyway in Paradise. (Hung T. Vu/Special to the Record Searchlight) Hung T. Vu

Firefighters battle the Camp Fire as it tears through Paradise, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. Tens of thousands of people fled a fast-moving wildfire Thursday in Northern California, some clutching babies and pets as they abandoned vehicles and struck out on foot ahead of the flames that forced the evacuation of an entire town and destroyed hundreds of structures. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) ORG XMIT: CANB133 Noah Berger, AP

epaselect epa07152472 Fire rages through neighborhoods as the Camp Fire burns out of control through Paradise, fueled by high winds in Butte County, California, USA, 08 November 2018. The nearby communities of Pulga, Paradise and Concow, have been ordered to evacuate the area. EPA-EFE/PETER DASILVA ORG XMIT: PDS01 PETER DASILVA, EPA-EFE

The massive plume from the Camp Fire, burning in the Feather River Canyon and near Paradise, wafts over the Sacramento Valley as seen from Chico on Thursday morning. (David Little -- Enterprise-Record) David Little/Chico Enterprise-Record

Jon Trojanowski, a volunteer with North Valley Animal Disaster Group, walks his Malamue-Lab mix Lexi.
Trojanowski lost his home in the Camp Fire but remained on task volunteering to help aid and rescue animals endangered by the fire. Benjamin Spillman

Volunteer Lori Finch on Nov. 10, 2018 greets a baby donkey on a farm in an area that was evacuated because of the Camp Fire. Finch was able to provide the donkey, several goats, pigs and llamas food and water. Benjamin Spillman